Is there no end to it? (More comic budget issues.)

(Blame Newsarama for making me think about it. Every time I think I'm done, they post a new article and I think "Oh, yeah, there's that, isn't there?")

Some of the people we surveyed said they don't believe the comic book retail market will be hit as hard as some other industries, because fans enjoy it too much as an escape.

This is a theme throughout all of the articles, and while it seems likely that people do tend to go for the cheap entertainment during hard times, one issue is whether comics really are cheap entertainment. Hardcore fans are going to keep buying for as long as they can manage it. And I suppose it's arguable that a fairly large percentage of comic fans are hardcore fans, simply because the way things are these days (long story arcs, multiple tie-ins, special events, decades-long continuity issues), it's hard for someone to enjoy comics as a casual reader.

Which means that even if non-fans were inclined to look toward comics as a cheaper entertainment option, it's still an awful lot of work to get up to speed, and I don't see a lot of people who just want a bit of light reading once in a while being willing to put forth that sort of effort.

And a lot of current fans are economizing--cutting back on purchases, being more selective in what they buy, switching to trade format, switching to mail-order comic stores that offer significant discounts. And once a book is off the pull list, are we likely to put it back? (Barring cases where a book was dropped for specific reasons that are later addressed--by a new creative team, for example.) On the whole, people don't seem to be dropping comics altogether (and if they have, they often consider it a temporary measure), but they're trying to spend less on what they get, and that has to have some impact.

And as for adding, well, personally if isn't a sure thing (Deadpool!!! :)) I think hard before adding something new, particularly a new ongoing. I'm more likely to add a mini, something where the extra expense will take place over a limited time. In theory, by the time that mini is over there'll be another mini starting, but there's no guarantee that I'll want anything to replace it.

Also, something I haven't seen addressed often is that people may be sharing their books more these days. (Maybe they're not and that's why I haven't seen it?) I do know that if I'm thinking of trying something new, I'll often ask my brother whether he's seen it, or gets it, and if he does I'll probably just read what he's got on hand. He also reads some of my books. I realize of course that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a comic-friendly sibling or friend.

(Of course there are a couple of different economics-related issues. The first one is simple and direct--do you have enough money to buy comics, and if so, how many? The second one is more relative--do you think that, regardless of whether you can afford them, comics have become too expensive. You can have plenty of money and still decide that if comics go to $3.99, you're done buying them--not because you can't afford it but because you just think that's too damn much for a comic book. )